SmartBot: A Robot with A Smartphone for Brains

No it’s not a hacked Roomba, it’s something way cooler. SmartBot is a device that turns your smartphone into a robot by utilizing your smartphone as it’s brain. By placing your smartphone in the robot’s cradle, users instantly have a little robot with a multitude of uses, from being your robot companion to winning epic robot battles.

“SmartBot is an entertainment robot that uses a Smartphone as its brain, sensors and interfaces. It gives robot fans a complete mobile robotic platform, open and affordable, which lets them develop robotic applications, play games, enjoy interactive services and learn robotics.”

The SmartBot is a nifty piece of hardware, which is compatible with Arduino style boards, and allows the connection of many components. SmartBot is outfitted with NFC, and has an expansion port which can host many devices, such as motors, electromagnets, light sensors, robotic arms and more. There are accessories such as a gripping claw, a pen adapter and a ball gun just to name a few. If you can think it, it’s sure to be possible to use with the SmartBot.

SmartBot is compatible with Windows Phone, iOS and Android devices. It utilizes the smartphone not just to display a friendly face on the screen, but also to use GPS data, front and rear cameras and the microphone. Pretty much anything that works on your phone, SmartBot has access to. How these functions are utilized, are up to you.

SmartBot also has its own apps, which make it easy for those who aren’t as interested in the development aspects of the unit to just have some fun. The SmartBot SDK is totally open, which means developers and hackers can create Apps and program to their heart’s content. So far apps such as SmartBot Charmer, which allows users to control the SmartBot’s movements with a flute.

So check out the video below to see SmartBot in action, and the picture after that to see more of what the SmartBot can do. The little dude isn’t available for purchase quite yet however, but they will start shipping in April 2013, and will set you back €160,00. If you’re into it, pre-order here!